goblinpaladin's Wood Elves: The Second Age

 Arrows came down like silver sleet, and the sullen host before them fled, seeking the mountains, the dark places at the roots of the hills.
    - C.J Cherryh, The Dreamstone

i aten't dead

Last year, I (space-)delved too greedily and too deep; I fell into (space-)darkness and there was lost for a time. But now I return, refreshed and anew, ready to return to my roots* with a second round of Elves (Wood). Someone has to make up the numbers, as other elven painters have fallen into the hands of barrow wights.

Iannick Swordmaster, wanderer in the north

First, thanks again to Our Benevolent Overlord, Iannick Snowielder, Lord of The Ice-Wastes, Old Iron-Leg, Him Who Commands Many Legions. I will gift him the above elven swordsmen, complete with blue-star-on-pink, the colours of our Noble Liege.

This year, I'm hoping to fill out the elves from my first OWAC, which was rich in zoats, wardancers and merry archers but a bit weak in, you know, actual infantry. And not nearly enough animals, if you ask me. This year we sadly have fewer Goodwin sculpts, but there are still some classics in there:

CHARACTERS

Duilliath Shadowleaf, Sylvan King (213 points)

Aoibheil Joy-in-the-Earth, Greenfey (303 points)

Laochailan h-eòin, Hero of Birds, Sylvan Chieftain (246 including eagle) + dismounted model

Skaw the Falconer, Sylvan Chieftain (170[?] points)

Fionn the Harpist, Sylvan Chieftain (168 points)

RANK ⁊ FILE

5 Wardancers with two hand weapons (105 points)

5 Falconers (55 points)

Beastmaster + 3 warhounds (25 points)

Beastmaster + 4 bears (93 points) (3 bears count-as 4)

Beastmaster + 5 wild cats (118 points)

17-strong Warrior Kinband with shields, light armour, standard, musician (209 points)

Shapechanger (28 points)

This is technically a bit character-heavy for the near-1800 points this comes to, but remember this is expanding on an existing army. Just in case, though, we have some stretch goals made mostly from the modern Oathmark plastics:

a forest of spears

CHARACTERS

Eada the Noble (95 points)

RANK ⁊ FILE

11 Guards with standard, musician (195 points)

18-strong Warrior Kinband with spears, shields, light armour, standard, musician (240 points)

Shapechanger with spear (29 points)

I'm not convinced that I'll get to these, though! Let alone a second stretch goal:

eat my shorts, shakespeare
- tokien

RANK ⁊ FILE

Treeman (280 points)

Treeman (280 points)

I don't want to commit to these stretch goals at this stage, although those Treemen would be a great bonus month. I also recognise that purists may not accept the Oathmark plastics as bonding with the Old Metals aspect of the challenge. The overall pile has miniatures from Citadel ⁊ Marauder Miniatures, Grenadier, Crooked Dice, Bears Head Miniatures, and Ral Partha (which itself has some from even more obscure ranges), but the Oathmark elves are very new and very available. I leave it open.

While I'm spending December trying to prep in advance (for once), I've also been getting my hand in. It's been a while since I painted green cloaks, and I wanted to remember how to do it. So I've added a unit leader to an old unit of archers:

a new glade runner:

and finished the shields for those wardancers who needed them:

One of the previous wardancers (not shown) will also make his way into a Warrior Kinband.

That's it for this introductory post! Let us burn the sacred bull atop the pyre! Offer prayer and sacrifice to the gods of hunt and glen, bronze and dagger, that this year I shall not fail. On, kindred, and avenge the death-in-space of our posterior self!

remember what awaits you, adventurers...**

*No apologies.
**No apologies.